NORFOLK, Va. -- More than 8,000 sailors and Marines left the East Coast on Thursday as part of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman battle group, its first deployment since last year's terrorist attacks.
The group was making a scheduled move to the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf.
Sailors dressed in pea coats stood on the Truman's deck as it pulled away from Norfolk Naval Station, and about 100 people waved from the pier. A voice on the loudspeaker said, "Peace on Earth to men of good will. All others stand by."
The carrier was one of nine ships to depart from Norfolk, with a 10th ship leaving from Earle Naval Weapons Station in New Jersey.
"There is an air of excitement, and there is an air of anxiety to some degree," Rear Adm. John D. Stufflebeem told reporters in the hangar bay aboard the Truman. "I think where most people are right now is in a comfort zone. We've worked hard. We've trained well."
Petty Officer Third Class Rob Anzidei said the training leading up to departure was more intense than the last time the Truman deployed, about two years ago.
"It's all because of 9/11," said Anzidei, 21, of Maple Shade, N.J. "Whenever you go to the Persian Gulf, you're going to face dangers, but this time it's kind of personal."
Besides the Truman, the battle group's ships are the guided missile cruiser USS San Jacinto; the guided missile destroyers USS Oscar Austin, USS Mitscher and USS Donald Cook; the destroyers USS Briscoe and USS Deyo; the guided missile frigate USS Hawes; the oiler USS Kanawha; and the ammunition ship USS Mount Baker, based at Earle.
The battle group also includes Air Wing Three, made up of about 80 aircraft from Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Jacksonville, Fla., Whidbey Island, Wash., and Beaufort, S.C.
The Truman is to relieve the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier USS George Washington, whose return date has not been announced. A deployment usually lasts six months, meaning the Washington's battle group, which left June 20, would be expected to return around Dec. 20.
